Callan McAuliffe: Action Alien Fighter

When we last spoke with cute Aussie actor Callan McAuliffe, the soon-to-be 16-year-old  was starring in the coming of age tale Flipped. Next, you can catch this fun and feisty young man playing Sam, an unpopular Sci-Fi geek who is king of the nerds at his high school until he befriends an alien on the run in the actioner I Am Number Four based on the popular young adult novel.

We are in Beverly Hills for our chat and note that the formerly blonde Callan is brunette and it suits him. We wanted to know how he’s progressed since our chat about Flipped. Is he still in public school? How was working with hottie Alex Pettyfer in “Number Four” and what funny thing happened on the set? It involved Callan being a klutz and it’s hilarious. We also learned what the teen would be doing for a career if he weren’t in movies. Curl up and check out our fun exchange.

TeenHollywood: You were a blonde in Flipped. Is this darker hair your natural color? Do you like it better?

Callan: I’m not sure what my real hair color is anymore! I’m not kidding. They dyed it darker for this film. I think I’m a mouse brown but yeah, it’s okay.

TeenHollywood: Is your character Sam in a younger grade than characters John (Alex Pettyfer) and Sarah (Dianna Agron) in the film?

Callan: I think he’s in a grade lower. He’s that kid that gets picked on a lot by the most popular crowd in school but, because he and John are outsiders, they bond. So, I follow him around the entire film just to irritate him. I had a good time.

TeenHollywood: Then you are the side-kick to Alex and Dianna. Do you end up helping Alex’s character John or are you just a pain throughout?

Callan: [laughs] Yeah. I end up helping him but, at the beginning, he really doesn’t need me and I’m sort of jeopardizing his mission. He’s trying to hide and doesn’t want to be captured by his ruthless enemies. So me, trying to find out if he’s from some other planet is not gonna help him.  At one time I see him use one of his powers and that’s how I know. He doesn’t know if I’m someone who will upload it to YouTube. To him I’m annoying at the beginning.

TeenHollywood: So you are a human and have no alien powers, right?

Callan: [sly grin] As of now, we don’t know. We’ll see.

TeenHollywood: Are you a fan of Sci-Fi books or films? I know you are a gamer and play “Halo”. 

Callan: Yeah. I was never too interested in Sci-fi books. I enjoy watching Sci-fi movies because I like being immersed in that whole visual thing. The reason I like “Halo” is the story and atmosphere and the music is phenomenal. I’ve been with that so long.

TeenHollywood: Are you still trying to stay in public high school and finish or are you home or internet schooled now?

Callan: What I’ve been doing so far is my school back in Sydney has been sending everything through to me. They send me PDF files. Then they can also send you a packet of work and supplies. You do a couple months’ work and send it back.

TeenHollywood: Are you sad that you’ll miss all the activities at school though?

Callan: I’ve had great experiences on school grounds but it’s always good to try  something new. I’ll definitely miss some of my friends but every now and then I’ll go back and say “hi”.

TeenHollywood: You have a lot of scenes with Alex. How did you guys get along? Big bro little bro or more equals? 

Callan: Definitely equals. I spent a lot of time with Alex. He’s a funny guy. When [director] D.J.[Caruso] calls “action”, he’ll be super focused and super into it but as soon as they call “cut”, he’s joking and making fun of everyone. He’s crazy.

TeenHollywood: What do you have in common with your character Sam and how are you very different?

Callan: There’s not too much in common other than the fact that he’s a boy. I guess I’m not so much an outsider at my school. I have quite a few friends but Sam is very unpopular and the outcast. You’re gonna be if you believe in aliens and your dad is researching ancient astronauts. There are a few similarities here and there.

TeenHollywood: Is Ellen Page still a dream co-star or do you have a new one now since we talked last August?

Callan: No, Ellen or Johnny Depp. I don’t know what it is about Ellen. There’s just something different about her, particularly the roles she plays and she’s a phenomenal actress!

TeenHollywood: Anything funny or silly happen between scenes or during shooting? 

Callan: There was a time when we had to run away across a football field from a big, scary creature that would be put in later in CG. There wasn’t even a tennis ball to look at. We had to run and keep turning around to look at this creature. Well, everyone else successfully keeps running and turning and me, with my big buddy alien shotgun, I turn around and fall over and do two forward rolls. After we successfully did that scene, everyone went back to the monitors and watched me fall in slow motion. It was hilarious. It’s not in the film but I’m sure it’s in the bloopers.

TeenHollywood: Embarrassing! Do you have a best friend, male or female that you are still close to? Do they care that you are an actor? Are they impressed or couldn’t care less?

Callan: I keep up with all my friends back in Australia and we do X-Box live so I can kill them while I talk to them. ‘Do you know that I just killed you?’.  They’ll go see the film but I’m no different than them as far as they’re concerned.

TeenHollywood: What did someone else get to do in the movie that you were jealous of?

Callan: Oooo, well, Alex being the character in the movie that’s very adept at fighting and jumping off buildings and stuff, there’s a part where he does this backwards swan dive onto a rock. I’d just love to do stunt training and stuff. I didn’t need much for my character because he’s running around going ‘Aaaaaaaa’ [he throws his arms up in the air in panic mode]. 

TeenHollywood: What is your deepest worry right now for your career future? A lot of guys your age make wrong choices and going down a bad path.

Callan: Everyone has their own way of dealing with things. They can ruin their lives or make their lives good. I’m going to make mine good, doing the best I can to maintain my career and not “f” it up.

TeenHollywood: If acting hadn’t panned out, what would you have studied and become?

Callan: I’m really into animals, nature and wildlife so photography and art.  A wildlife photographer would have been great. I’m still into that because acting takes you to different places and I take my camera and that’s why I want to go on a photo safari in Africa. I’d love to do a camping trip there, myself and my camera. I did some photography classes at school but I was focusing on English, Math and Science.  Photography is instinct to me. Sure, you can be crap at photography but that’s kind of difficult.

TeenHollywood: If you go online, besides the gaming sites, what do you visit most?

Callan: Definitely YouTube. That’s great for everything but I’ve never put anything up. I hadn’t seen the first teaser for the movie so I saw it on there. The new trailer looks so good.

TeenHollywood: What is “Cloud Street”? When did you do that?

Callan: I did it after Flipped. It’s this phenomenal Australian, iconic thing. It’s a three part mini-series, two hours each and I play the younger version of one of the characters and I’m in the first two hours.

TeenHollywood: Tell your fellow teens why they’ll really enjoy seeing I Am Number Four.

Callan: [joking] Well, cuz I’m in it! No. You’ve got Michael Bay so you can expect explosions. You’ve got Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron and Teresa Palmer who are all phenomenally attractive people and good actors so it will be an awesome movie in itself….even without me.  I just add that extra ten points of awesome-ness [teasing smile].

Catch I Am Number Four in February. Cool trailers are out now.